Santee Fire Department's new search dog Victor

Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune

Santee Fire Department rescue dog Victor, whose job is to locate live victims in a disaster zone, trains by walking across a ladder as firefighter and paramedic Bill Walkenhorst watches at the Santee Fire Station.

Victor, the new professionally trained search dog for the Santee Fire Department, whose job is to locate live victims in disaster zones, and his handler and partner firefighter/paramedic Bill Walkenhorst go through some training exercises at the Santee Fire Department. After his previous owner received a life-term prison sentence, Victor, a Lab mix, was placed in a shelter where it was observed that had an intense determination to find a ball and ended up being trained to sniff out a human scent in piles of debris. After spending the day at the station, Victor goes home with Walkenhorst.